2012 The Way Forward

Historically, Presidential elections are horrible years for running as a Republican in Massachusetts. The increased turnout of independents, particularly in the Boston suburbs, tend to swing toward the Democratic column in Presidential years.

For a variety of reasons (economic, disenchantment, frustration, and the top of the ticket) 2012 is shaping up as a possibly neutral year for down-ticket races. When even lib rags like the Metro West Daily News are running editorials bemoaning the back door dealings on Bacon Hill http://www.metrowestdailynews…. the time is right to capitalize on voter sentiment. Sure, the Nutty Professor could change the dynamics of the above scenario, but when the voting populace sees just how out of touch she really is, (can you really claim to represent the middle class when you have lived the 1% lifestyle for almost 20 years?) the dynamics could still be favorable.

We need candidates to run in order to capitalize on this opportunity. It will be on us to convince them to run if we want to make headway into the Congressional and Bacon Hill one party dominance.

Unfortunately, many of the best people that could win don’t run, and those candidates who do run can’t win. Candidates that run need to appeal to independent voters, not scare the hell out of them. Like it or not, this is the reality.

When Tip O’Neill became the first Democrat elected Speaker of the House in 1948, he did it by recruiting people that were either DINOs or disagreed with him on a host of issues, but did not like the Brahmin based political dominance prevalent in Boston even more. He pledged party financial and volunteer support for the most popular person in communities if they would run as a Democrat and pledge their vote to him for Speaker. After that, they would be free to vote their personal opinions on other issues. O’Neill recognized that all the political power in Massachusetts flowed through the Speakership, and a divided majority caucus was far better than a united minority one.

O’Neill’s most famous phrase was “all politics is local.” On the downticket races, the more likable, relatable, hardworking person stands a better chance of winning. The MA House and Senate seats build the farm team for the upticket races down the road. Walsh, and his predecessors, have been using this playbook and eating our lunch with it for years.

Too often on here, I see how the RINO hunters of the Commonwealth try to distill our party down to a ideological pure essence. “Far better to die on the sword than to have a chance to win the battle.” This is an ideal that dooms the party to insignificance. How much ability would Governor Patrick have to continue to push through a progressive social agenda if a Republican Speaker or Senate President was in place controlling the legislative agenda? Even if there were Rockefeller GOP types in the caucus that wanted to support the Governor, the leadership could refuse to bring the issue to a vote. The same goes for Congress.

So go out, find the most popular likable person in your Congressional, House or Senate district, regardless of party. Convince them that if they are not happy with the direction of our state, that they need to run as a Republican to change it, and that you and 30 more volunteers will be there from the onset to support them every step of the way.

If we ever hope to see the Republican Party become the dominant party in Massachusetts, it will be the fiscal issues that get us there, not the social ones. The time to do it, is now.